My biggest three regrets are the Ramones, Mescaleros, and Bowie. Honestly, I never had much chances near me in SC with the latter two, but I missed the Ramones on three separate occasions. Each time I told myself, "they're the Ramones. They'll be back. They're always back." D'oh.

I still regret I never saw Joe on the Rock Against the Rich tour when it came to Newcastle in 1988. I was distracted by a lady at the time, a similar story with BAD on the Tighten Up tour, that was the only gig of theirs in Newcastle that I missed.

I just polished off some Low Country shrimp & grits and a mess of collards. That's a hell of a strain on the arm.

My biggest three regrets are the Ramones, Mescaleros, and Bowie. Honestly, I never had much chances near me in SC with the latter two, but I missed the Ramones on three separate occasions. Each time I told myself, "they're the Ramones. They'll be back. They're always back." D'oh.

Regrets, I have a few: AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Boomtown Rats, wasting good money on U2 after 1983, Bowie, the Stones, not seeing Rory Gallagher till he was ill and past it.

And most of all, living in London in 1988, on the corner of Elgin Av & Harrow Rd to be precise, and somehow not once seeing Joe, either in person or in concert though I did see him a few times with the Pogues in the 90s, which was something I suppose.

My biggest three regrets are the Ramones, Mescaleros, and Bowie. Honestly, I never had much chances near me in SC with the latter two, but I missed the Ramones on three separate occasions. Each time I told myself, "they're the Ramones. They'll be back. They're always back." D'oh.

That's rough, you missed 3 of the greats

I saw the Ramones on their final tour. They had slowed down a bit - but I recall it still being just a blast. It was at an outdoor "alternative" music festival and maybe the best part was at the end of the show the band exited the stage and since there wasn't really a backstage area - they had to walk on the other side of a chain link fence to get to their trailer and I was able to reach over and shake hands with Joey and Marky!

My biggest three regrets are the Ramones, Mescaleros, and Bowie. Honestly, I never had much chances near me in SC with the latter two, but I missed the Ramones on three separate occasions. Each time I told myself, "they're the Ramones. They'll be back. They're always back." D'oh.

I still get a kick that I've seen Bowie live and you haven't. Not to rub it in your face, but that's some cruel irony. I do wish I was more familiar with his catalog when I saw him though.

Mescaleros is a big regret for me, though I wasn't a super fan at the time, so I'm not beating myself up too much about that. I feel like I'll regret not seeing Paul McCartney the many times I've had the opportunity to. I know there are some that I'm forgetting, but I've been fortunate enough to see a ton of bands over the years.

Look, you have to establish context for these things. And I maintain that unless you appreciate the Fall of Constantinople, the Great Fire of London, and Mickey Mantle's fatalist alcoholism, live Freddy makes no sense. If you want to half-ass it, fine, go call Simon Schama to do the appendix.

I regret never seeing Bowie. I'm fortunate to have seen the Ramones, Meskies and BAD. I regret not seeing PIL in their prime. I saw them on the 120 Minutes tour, but that's it. I had tickets to a Tom Petty concert back in the 90s and ended up not being able to go, so that sucks.

Regrets, I have a few: AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Boomtown Rats, wasting good money on U2 after 1983, Bowie, the Stones, not seeing Rory Gallagher till he was ill and past it.

And most of all, living in London in 1988, on the corner of Elgin Av & Harrow Rd to be precise, and somehow not once seeing Joe, either in person or in concert though I did see him a few times with the Pogues in the 90s, which was something I suppose.

Mate we were practically neighbours! In 88 I was living in Chippenham Road at the Shirland Road end, opposite Dominoes Pizza (although don’t think it had opened then) which is where 101 Walterton Road used to be.
You must have been living by the spieler on that corner?

Regrets, I have a few: AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Boomtown Rats, wasting good money on U2 after 1983, Bowie, the Stones, not seeing Rory Gallagher till he was ill and past it.

And most of all, living in London in 1988, on the corner of Elgin Av & Harrow Rd to be precise, and somehow not once seeing Joe, either in person or in concert though I did see him a few times with the Pogues in the 90s, which was something I suppose.

Mate we were practically neighbours! In 88 I was living in Chippenham Road at the Shirland Road end, opposite Dominoes Pizza (although don’t think it had opened then) which is where 101 Walterton Road used to be.
You must have been living by the spieler on that corner?

Spieler as in gambling den? There was a Tote shop on the other side, maybe thats what your referring to? I was in one of the two big white tower blocks on Elgin, Chantry Point, with the pub just outside we preferred to avoid. They were good squats, very basic but clean, only problem was the heat came through the vents in summer and never figured a way of turning the damn things off.

Regrets, I have a few: AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Boomtown Rats, wasting good money on U2 after 1983, Bowie, the Stones, not seeing Rory Gallagher till he was ill and past it.

And most of all, living in London in 1988, on the corner of Elgin Av & Harrow Rd to be precise, and somehow not once seeing Joe, either in person or in concert though I did see him a few times with the Pogues in the 90s, which was something I suppose.

Mate we were practically neighbours! In 88 I was living in Chippenham Road at the Shirland Road end, opposite Dominoes Pizza (although don’t think it had opened then) which is where 101 Walterton Road used to be.
You must have been living by the spieler on that corner?

Spieler as in gambling den? There was a Tote shop on the other side, maybe thats what your referring to? I was in one of the two big white tower blocks on Elgin, Chantry Point, with the pub just outside we preferred to avoid. They were good squats, very basic but clean, only problem was the heat came through the vents in summer and never figured a way of turning the damn things off.

Ok I know where you mean.
The Spieler was in a basement right on the corner of Elgin where it meets Walterton Road. Used to host huge West Indian Blues parties. Metal Mickey (on cover of 101’ers album) used to sit on the wall outside.
I used to go to that pub (Elephant) when they were serving home made Irish stew, delicious.

Regrets, I have a few: AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Boomtown Rats, wasting good money on U2 after 1983, Bowie, the Stones, not seeing Rory Gallagher till he was ill and past it.

And most of all, living in London in 1988, on the corner of Elgin Av & Harrow Rd to be precise, and somehow not once seeing Joe, either in person or in concert though I did see him a few times with the Pogues in the 90s, which was something I suppose.

Mate we were practically neighbours! In 88 I was living in Chippenham Road at the Shirland Road end, opposite Dominoes Pizza (although don’t think it had opened then) which is where 101 Walterton Road used to be.
You must have been living by the spieler on that corner?

Spieler as in gambling den? There was a Tote shop on the other side, maybe thats what your referring to? I was in one of the two big white tower blocks on Elgin, Chantry Point, with the pub just outside we preferred to avoid. They were good squats, very basic but clean, only problem was the heat came through the vents in summer and never figured a way of turning the damn things off.

Ok I know where you mean.
The Spieler was in a basement right on the corner of Elgin where it meets Walterton Road. Used to host huge West Indian Blues parties. Metal Mickey (on cover of 101’ers album) used to sit on the wall outside.
I used to go to that pub (Elephant) when they were serving home made Irish stew, delicious.

That sounds exactly where i remember the Tote shop to be but my memory of late 80s/early 90s would not be the most reliable! Did that pub have a bad reputation, looked pretty grim from the outside anyway, not sure i ever darkened its door. There was an irish pub other side of the Harrow Rd (not the Prince of Wales) that served as the local, along with the one on the canal that was a little bit more upmarket, or as far as we were concerned anyway.

Regrets, I have a few: AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Boomtown Rats, wasting good money on U2 after 1983, Bowie, the Stones, not seeing Rory Gallagher till he was ill and past it.

And most of all, living in London in 1988, on the corner of Elgin Av & Harrow Rd to be precise, and somehow not once seeing Joe, either in person or in concert though I did see him a few times with the Pogues in the 90s, which was something I suppose.

Mate we were practically neighbours! In 88 I was living in Chippenham Road at the Shirland Road end, opposite Dominoes Pizza (although don’t think it had opened then) which is where 101 Walterton Road used to be.
You must have been living by the spieler on that corner?

Spieler as in gambling den? There was a Tote shop on the other side, maybe thats what your referring to? I was in one of the two big white tower blocks on Elgin, Chantry Point, with the pub just outside we preferred to avoid. They were good squats, very basic but clean, only problem was the heat came through the vents in summer and never figured a way of turning the damn things off.

Ok I know where you mean.
The Spieler was in a basement right on the corner of Elgin where it meets Walterton Road. Used to host huge West Indian Blues parties. Metal Mickey (on cover of 101’ers album) used to sit on the wall outside.
I used to go to that pub (Elephant) when they were serving home made Irish stew, delicious.

That sounds exactly where i remember the Tote shop to be but my memory of late 80s/early 90s would not be the most reliable! Did that pub have a bad reputation, looked pretty grim from the outside anyway, not sure i ever darkened its door. There was an irish pub other side of the Harrow Rd (not the Prince of Wales) that served as the local, along with the one on the canal that was a little bit more upmarket, or as far as we were concerned anyway.

Yep was rough,think it was owned by 'the cause' but the stew was good.
Was your local Angies? Just around the corner.
The pub by the canal was the Carlton Bridge which was frequented by our glorious leader Inder!!

Mate we were practically neighbours! In 88 I was living in Chippenham Road at the Shirland Road end, opposite Dominoes Pizza (although don’t think it had opened then) which is where 101 Walterton Road used to be.
You must have been living by the spieler on that corner?

Spieler as in gambling den? There was a Tote shop on the other side, maybe thats what your referring to? I was in one of the two big white tower blocks on Elgin, Chantry Point, with the pub just outside we preferred to avoid. They were good squats, very basic but clean, only problem was the heat came through the vents in summer and never figured a way of turning the damn things off.

Ok I know where you mean.
The Spieler was in a basement right on the corner of Elgin where it meets Walterton Road. Used to host huge West Indian Blues parties. Metal Mickey (on cover of 101’ers album) used to sit on the wall outside.
I used to go to that pub (Elephant) when they were serving home made Irish stew, delicious.

That sounds exactly where i remember the Tote shop to be but my memory of late 80s/early 90s would not be the most reliable! Did that pub have a bad reputation, looked pretty grim from the outside anyway, not sure i ever darkened its door. There was an irish pub other side of the Harrow Rd (not the Prince of Wales) that served as the local, along with the one on the canal that was a little bit more upmarket, or as far as we were concerned anyway.

Yep was rough,think it was owned by 'the cause' but the stew was good.
Was your local Angies? Just around the corner.
The pub by the canal was the Carlton Bridge which was frequented by our glorious leader Inder!!

I bet it was cheap too. I remember regularly going up to the Archway for a "builders" dinner in those days and you'd be fed and watered with change from a fiver. Last time I passed the Archway it was a Thai restaurant or something. I think it was Angies alright, but may have been called something else in those days? Spent a few lazy sundays in the Carlton but the 3-7 closing hours or whatever it was back then were horrendous.